The War Of The Swine And The Hay

"Those sneezy sniffs that throw doubt to hayfever and the common cold but lend credence to the Swine flu are driving people potty..." Chedvah

It goes without saying that the current season should coerce us to have a brisk walk and a little step in our movements. We should be enjoying the sunny incidences and pronouncing joyful cheer to everyone who comes our way. Nature has a way of humbling us…remember those lovely hot days we enjoyed just a few weeks back, several of us may have muttered incoherrent rumblings about the hot spells and how it felt terrible to endure sun burn, heat rash and all those other bits that come with the hot weather. Then the pollen count started to rise, we hank…chewed and rushed to the nearest pharmacist to stock up on anti histamines and continued on to the high street shops to stock up on sunglasses and sun block. We walked about in a daze, glad that we had stocked up, the season was here…we were braced for spring...what else could surprise us?

Lo and Behold the Swine flu graced our non glossy spreads and gave us a break from updates about Paris Hilton’s globe trotting, Madonna’s failed adoption, Mel Gibson’s impending divorce and our own Labour Party’s doom daily predicament special. Like all news not happening within one’s domicile, outbreaks tend to lend a once over sympathetic glance and then one often moves on to the next best story or calamity.

But this calamity was not to go; the Swine flu spread like a weed and several countries started getting afflicted, the UK inclusive. The World Health Organisation called it a pandemic and stepped up its response levels and suddenly Swine Flu became a bit interesting-news wise. But like all bad news heard but not personally received, one slowly hopes it will go away.

This was not to be, United Kingdom is currently reporting 32 cases of Swine Flu. The Swine flu is spreading from person to person at an alarming rate. So as we-Londoners try to get to grips with the fact, that one of the first cases in the UK was in London and could have travelled on public transport, the incidences of Swine Flu occurrence are becoming greater. Anyone who travels on the London Underground can affirm that in the instance of a person sneezing, people start o clear the area and run for cover. ‘Hay fever’ hasn’t helped things either, watering eyes, sneezing, the occasional coughs are doing nothing to alleviate the peoples’ fears. The National Health Service (NHS) has bequeathed with online information, TV adverts and lately leaflets to promote Swine Flu awareness among the masses. So as we firmly hope that we will not be sufferers we also continue to hope that if we should suffer from the Swine flu we should at least survive.